Well, as Red Rover pondered the meaning of life, or rather, the fact that he had furry knickers on, a strange aura was developing in the barn. The horses all felt some interesting vibes out there, and being horses and all, did not quite understand what was going on.

"I heard the humans talking about some kind of holiday party the other day," said Big Red. "Don't know what that means at all."

"Well, they just had a big birthday party - remember the night all the people came and there was food and games  and what-not?" answered Calvin.

"Oh yeah, we got some extra carrots and treats, if I recall correctly." said Red. "Well, if we're having another party like that, I'm all for it."

The horses all munched on their hay for a few minutes, happily contemplating the thought of another party with more treats.

Then another voice was heard. "What about these stockings on our doors? What's with those?" asked Poco.
Scatman, the oldest boy in the group, knew about that one. "Those are our stockings that Santa will fill for us soon. That means more treats!"

He told them about the holidays and how all the humans run around madly buying gifts for each other, and how Santa comes from the North Pole in his sleigh and brings presents and fills everyone's stockings with treats.

Although some of the horses were a bit skeptical of this story, they liked the part about the treats.

"Who pulls Santa's sled in the snow?" Ice wanted to know. "The Budweiser horses, probably, eh? Santa would need big, strong horses for that job!"

Tia and Elsie clued him in on that one. "Oh, no," said Tia. "Santa flies in the sky and a team of reindeer pulls the sled."

Elsie added that Santa went all around the world and in just one night, delivered all the presents to good girls and boys and horses.

All the horses went back to munching on their hay, now, because this story was just a bit much to be believed. They hoped it was true, but who ever heard of flying reindeer?

Well, as you can see in the picture, one bright, moonlit night, the Horsefeathers horses found out that the magical story was true. They had been let out into the pasture to get some exercise, and all of a sudden they heard the sound of little bells.

Red Rover, being the littlest of the group, was a bit nervous. "Where is that noise coming from?" he asked.

"Why, look - up in the sky!" answered Elsie. "It is just as we told you, it is Santa and his sleigh, and you can count the reindeer-there are eight of them!"

All of a sudden, a Santa hat appeared on each of the horses' heads! They all looked up at Santa and the reindeer as they flew across the moon, and they all knew they would have stockings full of treats in the morning. They knew it was the magic of the holidays, and they all felt like the luckiest horses in the world.....which they are.